On the Nightstand

Pamela Haag’s Marriage Confidential is a promising and provocative but ultimately disappointing exploration of modern marriage. In what she calls the “post-romantic” era of marriage the author introduces the concept of the “semi-happy” or “low-conflict” marriage – a partnership that remains intact not because it satisfies the spouses’ romantic yearnings but rather because it makes pragmatic sense. Declaring herself to be semi-happily married, Haag suggests that the prevalence (within her social circle, at least) of this marital phenomenon, along with the high divorce rate,...

Further confirmation that I have found the right profession — my bedside reading. Lately, my reading habits have changed. I have always been an avid reader of fiction. From Narnia and Tolkien in grade school, to romance novels in my teens, to literary fiction (with a healthy dose of “chick-lit” and all the Harry Potter books) in my adult life, I have always loved plot and character and make-believe. Nearly everything else was a slog. And when I was a lawyer, you would never catch me reading a law-related book in my spare time. So imagine my surprise when I began to read...